07-20-2020-WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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May 19 Virtual Open House: Questions and Comments Received 2 Question: Can bikers and walkers cross Snelling Avenue at Hamline Avenue? Will any upgrades be made at this location? Answer: Bicyclists and pedestrians can legally cross at the Hamline Ave. intersection. We are proposing to close that in 2022 with the cable median barrier project, but that's one of the things we wanted to hear feedback on tonight. We don't believe that there are a lot of people crossing here, but we are asking for feedback because we could consider leaving openings in the median barrier for bicyclists and pedestrians. At this time, we have not proposed any pedestrian or bicyclist upgrades at the Hamline Ave. and Snelling Ave. crossing. Question: Have you considered extending the turn lane on southbound Snelling Avenue at Hamline Avenue? Is there anything that could address the wait time? Answer: An extended turn lane may address rear-end crashes going southbound on Snelling Ave, but it would not address the higher-risk crashes that are more likely to lead to a fatal or serious injury. These are crashes where drivers turning left choose too small of a gap to cross Snelling Ave. and are hit at a high speed, right-angle by northbound vehicles. Question: Can you time restrict the left turn lane from southbound Snelling Avenue to Hamline Avenue? What about adding a ‘no left turn’ sign during afternoon rush hour? What about adding controlled arms like the HOV lanes on I-394? Answer: Signs are only effective if drivers obey them, or if high and continuous police enforcement occurs, which typically doesn’t occur because of lack of staff. For example: There is a “no U-turn” sign at Glenhill Rd., but vehicles still are making this movement even with no southbound left turn lane. With low compliance of the “no U-turn” sign it’s likely a “No Left Turn” sign at certain times of the day would also have a low compliance. Also, at higher speeds with higher volumes on Snelling Ave., if a vehicle gets into or even slows to get into the left turn lane and then sees they can’t turn, they have to merge back onto southbound Snelling Ave., where vehicles travel much faster than the speed limit, which presents a safety risk. Controlled arm gates would present the same issue of vehicles having to merge back onto southbound Snelling Ave. They also have on-going maintenance needs. Question: How is a controlled intersection any safer than the intersection of Snelling Avenue and Hamline Avenue? We still have an increase in traffic at Lydia Ave. and Co. Rd. C2, and Snelling Ave. intersections in vehicles and pedestrians. If you close one with less accidents, then why not 2 intersections with more documented accidents? Answer: It is true that there are more crashes at Snelling and Lydia than at Snelling and Hamline. However, we typically analyze safety through crash rates (number of crashes over the number of vehicles using an intersection), not just raw numbers of crashes so that we compare the safety of different intersections. Snelling and Lydia has a higher number of crashes, but lower crash rate index than Snelling Avenue and Hamline Avenue, because it is used by more vehicles.